Means for maintaining a given direction of rotation of shafts.



No. 656,422. Patented Aug. 2|, |900.

H. F. oAcH.

MEANSFOR MAINTAINING AGIVEN `DHECTIN 0F RUTATIUN UF SHAFTS.

(Application filed June 5, 1899.1 N o M o d e j? II l.:

NITED i STATES PATENT- N FFIG;

HARRY n. RoAcI-I, orY sr. 'LoUIs7 MIssoUnI. y

V M'E-ANs FQRMAINIAINING'A GwI-:NtmEcuoNor RQTATIQN etsii/IFTS..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters reitera No. 656,422, atea August 21, 1900. Application inea me 5,1899. sesamo. Haies.V (No model-1:

To If/ZZ whom it' may co/zoent: i

Beit known thatl, HARRYF; ROAGH, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St; Louis,State of Missouri, have'invented a certain new and useful improvement in` means for maintaining a given direction of rotation of a shaft whose powergis supplied by a shaft` susceptible of revolving in` either of two direci tions, of which the following is 'a full, clear,

and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, form? ing part of this specification, in'whiche- Figure l` is a top planview of myimproved means for maintaining a given direction of rotation of a shaft or sleeve whose power is supplied by a shaft susceptible of revolving in either of two directions. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the same,` taken on the indicated `line 2 2 of Fig. l and Fig. 3 is a detailhorizontal sectional view of the ,laterally-movable clutch4ge'ar, with itscoperating elements. i

Thisinvention relates to a new and useful Improvement in means for maintaining a given Vdirection of rotationof a shaft whose power is supplied by a shaftsusceptible of revolving in either of two directions, and has for its object toA provide said means in a posii tively-simple and eective manner. This device is designed particularly;foruse in connection with a dynamo or motor suitably l mounted upon a vehicle wherein if` a `dynamo i side,'first, in the-construction and `arran,g,re` ment of the clutch-gear and its cooperating isemployed for generating `an electric cur` rent .for any purpose whatever'the armature `of saidfdynamo will be caused to rotate in a given direction regardlessof the'direction in whichthe vehicle is traveling or, in other words, regardless of thedirection in which the powershaft which drives the armature is revolving.

drive the vehicle in either of two directions and .still permit the motor to run in one dif' rection. f

The essential featur'esof this invention remeans, whereby a shaft is caused to rotate in one direction only While-its companionshaft,

together If `a motor is employed for driving` the vehicles,the object of this invention' is to which is eithera driving or a driven shaft, is caused to rotate in either of two directions.

Other features of the invention reside in the construction, arrangement,and combinatlon of the several parts',` all as will hereinafter be described and -afterward pointed out in the claims. 'V

fLike letters of reference refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In thedescription to follow l will describe this device as cooperating with a dynamo; but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the same, as a motor or even a pul- `ley to'be driven in one direction will come Within the scope of this my present invention. {In the drawings, A 'represents asupportingframe,`whichmay bev the framing of a loco- `I notive or other vehicle, as is obvious, upon whichis' mounted lnypre'sen't invention;

` B indicates the InainA shaft or axle of the vehicle, which is journaled in the frame Ain `any provided with the usual wheel b.

`C indicates a 4dynamo:whose,armature is supported on a hollow shaftorsleeve c, which sleeve is designed to rotate upon `and is supsuitable or usual manner, said anlebeing :ported by an axially-arranged shaft c', suitably journaled inthe frame AJ `D` indicates a spur-gearfsuitably keyed or votherwise secured totheaxle B and is de- 1 `signed tomesh with a laterally-movable pinion or clutch-gear E, arranged on the shaft c'. APinion E is provided with afemale screwthreaded axial bore e, designed to engage and cooperate with a male screw-thread c", formed onthe shaft c', wherebywhensaid pinion is` caused A4to rotate the coperation of its female threadedbore e'withA the male thread c" of theshaft c imparts lateral movement to said pinion. i (See Fig.`3.)fShaftcisprovided at i `its endnextadjacentto the pinion E with an enlarged flange 0', so distanced-from said pinion that a slight lateralmovement of the same willfcause its nearest side tof contact withsaid ilangec'", th'erebyestablishing a friction-clutch and causing the shaftfc, car` rying the armature, to'r'otate in thesame directionas does the aforesaid pinion E.

F indicates a spur-gear loosely mounted upon the shaftc', being arranged on the oppositeside of pinion E to that upon which the shaft c and its carried flange c" is located. This spur-gear F meshes with a spur-gear G,

loosely-mounted upon a suitable stud-shaftv secured to the frame A, said spur-gear Gr in turn meshing with another spur-gear H, secured to a shaft h, journaled in said frame A.

I indicates a spur-gear secured to the shaft 72, the same being preferably located at the opposite end of said shaft to that upon which the spur-gear I-I is located, said spur-gear I being in mesh with a spur-gear J, secured to the armature-bearing shaft c. bearings may be employed wherever desiredas, for instance, as is illustrated at x--to relieve the friction caused by the end thrust of the clutch-gear E.

From the description above given landa glance at the accompanying drawings itris obvious that the armature mounted upon the shaft c is caused to rotate always in one dif rection, although the shaft or axle B may rotate in either of two directions, viz: when the axle B is rotating in the direction indicated by the arrows in full lines, (see Fig. 2), the clutch-gear E will by virtue of the right-hand screw-thread move laterally on its shaft c in the proper direction to cause the side nearest the flange 0 to' contact therewith, thereby causing said shaft c to rotate in the same direction as does said friction-gear, vWhen the axle B is caused to rotate in the direction indicated by the dotted-line arrow, the clutch'- gear moves laterally on the shaft c in the proper direction to vcontact With one side of the spur-gear FV and by frictional contact causes said gear F to take up the same direc-y tion of rotation as does said clutchgear,which is now the opposite direction to that `before referred to or illustrated by the full-line arrow; but through the instrumentality of the differential gearing-4. e. ,the three spur-gears F, G, and H, as compared with the two spurgears I and J-the armature-bearing shaft c continues to rotate in the direction in which it did when the axle B rotated in the opposite direction, as will be readily understood.

I am aware that minor changes in the construction, arrangement, and combination of several parts of mydvevice can be made and substituted for thosev herein lshown and described withoutk in the least departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is l n l. In a device of the character described-,the combination ofa gear D susceptible of rotan tion in either of two directions, a member designed to rotate in one direction only, al shaft concentric with lthe axis of said member, a

clutch-gear 011 said shaft, means for imparting lateral movement to said clutch-gear `on said shaft, said clutch-gear being means coperating with said clutch-'gear for causing said member to rotate in the same di- Suitable ball- 'constantly l in mesh with said first-mentioned gear, and

lrection irrespective of the direction of rotation of said gear D, substantie llyas described. 2. In a device of the character described, the combination of the shaft B, which is susceptible of rotatingin either of two directions, a hollow shaft c which is designed to rotate in one direction only, a shaft c located within said hollow shaft, a clutch-gear provided with a bore, a female screw-thread formed in the bore of said clutch-gear, a male screw-thread formed on a shaft c', for coperation with the female screw-thread of the clutch-gear,a spurgear on the shaft B constantly in mesh with said clutch-gear, a flange arranged on the hollow shaft c, said ange forming one member of a clutch, the other member of said clutch being that side of the clutch-gear next adjacent to said flange, whereby, when said clutch-gear is forced against said Iiange, a clutch will have been established, a spur-gear F, mounted upon the shaft c', one side of said spur-gear F se'rving as one member of a clutch, the other member of said clutch being that side of the clutch-gear next adjacent to said spur-gear F,and gearing cooperating with said spur-gear F and said hollow shaft c; substantially as, and for the purpose specilied. 3. In a device of the character described, the combination with ashaft or axle B, of a spur-gear D arranged on said axle, a clutchgearE inmesh with said spurgear,a screwthreaded bore formed in said clutch-gear, a shaft c', a screw-thread formed on said shaft c', designed to mate and cooperate with the screwthreaded bore of said clutch-gear, a hollow shaft c surrounding said shaft c', a spur-gear F arranged on said hollow shaft c, avspur-gear J arranged on said shaft c, a shaft h, a spurgear H, arranged onV said shaft h, a spur-gear I arranged' on said shaft h, said spur-gear I bei-ng in mesh with the spur-gear J, and an intermediate spur-gear G, suitably mounted, and Vin mesh withthe spur-gears F and' H, all substantially as, and for the purpose speci fied.

y et. In-combination with the frame of a ve hicle, an axle B, which is susceptible of rotatingin either of two directions, a hollow shaft c which is designed to rotate inonedirection only, a shaft c located Within said hollow shaft, a clutch-gear provided with a bore, a

female screw-thread formed in the bore of said clutch-gear, 'a male screw-thread formed on the shaft c', for cooperation with the female vscrew-thread of the clutch-gear, a spur-gear constantly in mesh with said yclutch-gear, a flange arranged on the hollow shaft c, said ange forming one member of a frictionclutch, the other member of 'said frictionclutch `being that side of the clutch-gear'next adjacent to said flange, whereby, when said clutch-gear is forcedagainst said flange, a friction-clutch will have been established., a spur-gear F, loosely mounted upon the shaft c, one side of said spur-gear F serving as one member of a friction-clutch, the other mem- ICO 656,422 a f V3 ber of said friction-clutch being that side of the clutch-gear next adjacent to said spurgear F, and gearing cooperating with said spur-gear F and said hollow shaft c; substantally as, and for the purpose specified.

5. In combination with the frame of a Vehicle, an axle B, a spur-gear D arrangedv on said axle, a clutch-gear E in mesh with said spur-gear, a screw-threaded bore formed in said clutch-gear, a shaft c', a screw-thread formed on said shaft c', designed to mate and coperate with the screw-threaded bore of said clutch-gear, a hollow shaft c surrounding saidvshaft c', a spur-gear F arranged on said shaft c', a spur-gear-J arranged on said shaft c, a shaft 71 a spur-gear H, arranged on said shaft h, a spur-gear I arranged on said shaft h, said spur-gear I being in mesh with the spur-gear J, and an intermediate spurgear G, suitably mounted, and in mesh with the spur-gears F and H, all substantially as, and for the purpose specified. l .l

6. The herein-described clutch mechanism ,l

\ thread on the shaft o ,causes lateral movement of said clutch-gear, and causes the same to 'contact with either the Vflange on the hollow shaft or the'spur-gear F, thereby effecting a friction-clutch and causing either said iiange or said spur-gear F to rotate in the same direction as does said clutch-gear, and means coperating with said `spur-gear F and said hollow shaft for causing said hollow shaft to rotate in the same direction when the clutchgear contacts with the spur-gear F, as does the hollow shaft when said clutch-gear contacts with the flange on said hollow shaft; substantially as described.

7. In a device of the character described,"

the combination of a gear susceptible of rotation in .either of two directions, a member designed to rotate in one direction only, a shaft concentric with the axis of rotation of said member, a clutch-gear onsaid shaft, co-

acting parts on saidshaft and clutch-gear for imparting lateral movement to said clutchgear on said shaft, said clutch and rst-mentioned gear being constantly in mesh, a part adapted to be engaged by said clutch-gear when rotated in one direction to rotate said member in the same direction, a'gear adapted to be engaged by said clutch-gearlwhen rotated in the opposite direction, and gear vconnections between said last-mentioned gear and said member for rotating the member in a direction opposite to thedirection of rota-` tion of said clutch-gear, substantially as described. l s A l `In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this `3d day of June, 1899.

s HARRY r. Rollen. Witnesses y Y l a u s WM; H. Scorr,

A. YS. GRAY. 

